There was a time...
Childhood memories... "There was a time..." We had to go to school on our own, because there was no custom of being dropped off by cycle or bus. Our parents never worried about what good or bad might happen, after sending us to school. They never feared anything either. Pass or fail - that's all we knew. We had nothing to do with percentages. Admitting to going for tuition, was embarrassing, because we might be considered fools. We believed that placing peepal leaves, study leaves, or peacock feathers in our books, would make us smarter. In cloth bags…in satchels…and later in aluminum cases, we were experts at organizing our books and notebooks neatly. Every year, before starting a new class, we would cover our books and notebooks with brown paper - and this was no less than an annual celebration or a festival. At the end of the year, we sold our books and bought used ones for the next year - and never felt ashamed, because back then, neither books nor syllabus, changed ...